Our Wine Filled Selection originally included California Cabernet, French Cognac, Australian Tawny Port and Raspberry Wine, but the line has expanded to include several private label wines. These include Cabernet Sauvignon, Port, Spiced Red Wine, Orange Muscat and Muscat Hamburg from Fredericksburg Winery plus the Strawberry Wine and Blackberry Wine from Poteet Country Winery, both Texas Wineries.

Contrary to the original thinking regarding the liquid center process, it is possible to create this product without the aid of liquor; we have been doing it since 1993. Our Non-Alcoholic selection includes several coffees and fruit nectars: Cappuccino Coffee; Southern Pecan Coffee, Espresso Coffee, Mesquite Roasted Coffee, Peach Nectar, Cranberry Nectar, Black Cherry and Raspberry Nectar.

Our Private Label Program has been well received by wineries, distilleries, corporations, and prestigious hotels nationally. This is due primarily to the process maintaining the integrity of the rich dark chocolate shell while preserving the distinctive taste characteristics of the wine or spirit within. Private label products have included a variety of wines: Merlots, Zinfandels, Ports, Muscats, Muscadine, Chardonnay and Dessert (fruit) Wines. Private Label Spirits have included Sake, Special Reserve Rums, Single Malt Scotches, Flavored Schnapps, Vodkas and Grappas, exotic spirits and custom blends.

What sets Quintessential Liquid Center Chocolates apart from the rest? The European process of a Liqueur Praline (sugar crust). There are two kinds of liquid center chocolates: injection molded and liqueur praline (sugar crust).

Injected molded begins with a thick walled, pre-shaped chocolate shell with no identifiable liquid center. It is filled with the liquid and capped off with chocolate. In some cases it is dipped or enrobed again to completely seal it in chocolate (to attempt to prevent leaks). This increases the thickness of the shell, creating a smaller volume of liquid. The reason for the thick wall of chocolate is that the chocolate will absorb liquid over time and eventually create channels through the wall of chocolate where liquid can seep out and alcohol can evaporate. This makes the chocolate shell become soft and spongy over time and it can allow the alcohol to evaporate, leaving little or no liquid center.

Liqueur Praline is a confectionary art form that boasts being almost 200 years old. It was perfected by Rudolf Sprungli and was known as the LIMOBA process, standing for the Liquid Moisture Barrier Technique. Spinning a sugar shell around the liquid center creates a moisture barrier to trap the liquid inside, allowing for a thinner chocolate coating and a large volume of liquid inside. The thin chocolate shell remains crisp and clean, until it is crushed, when it can mingle delightfully in your mouth with the rush of liquid released.

Chocolat was privileged to host world class chocolatier and Executive Pastry Chef Vincent Pilon from the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, last November 2006, as he created a chocolate sculpture for a "Fantasy Wedding" held in Fredericksburg, Texas. This sculpture can be seen on the Food Network's "Fantasy Weddings" episode, scheduled to air during the last week of April, featuring Food Challenge host Chef Keegan Gerhard's own wedding. In celebration, Chocolat is offering a Food Network special when an order is placed for four boxes of our liquid center chocolates, we will include your choice of one of our newest flavors: Paula's Texas Orange Liqueur (an intense, fresh orange liqueur) or our non-alcohol Texas Mesquite Roasted Coffee filled chocolate.
"If you think you know what you're getting into when you bite into a piece of chocolate, a stop at Chocolat might just teach you something. Popping the candy in your mouth, the experience is at first like any other - rich, delicious chocolate slowly coating your taste buds. But bite down, and suddenly, the explosion hits: a sweet crunch of crystallized sugar, followed by the rush of warm liquid - liquor, wine, coffee, or fruit nectar, depending on your pick. As the flavors combine and the concoction makes its way to your tummy, you realize that chocolate as you know it has changed - for the better." Red Hat Society Lifestyle, July 2005

"Whether you live in Fredericksburg or just passing through look for the large Chocolat sign hanging outside Duke's cozy shop. She welcomes visitors who stop in and sample her delicate and delicious dark chocolate treats. Judging by the smiles on the faces of the folks who stop into the shop and partake of her chocolates, Lecia Duke has acomplished her goal of creating something that brings pleasure to others." Discover the Texas Hill Country Magazine